


The art of scraping through (it's not the waking)

by Estelle



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Morning After
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 20:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20784512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estelle/pseuds/Estelle
Summary: When Nathaniel woke up, the first thing he registered was the pounding headache he had.The second was the arm slung around his waist, and the warm body cuddling up to him.





	The art of scraping through (it's not the waking)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [vandal_aria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vandal_aria/gifts), [Settiai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/gifts).

> I have such a soft spot for this pairing, and was delighted to see it requested, so I just had to write a treat. Hope you'll like it!

When Nathaniel woke up, the first thing he registered was the pounding headache he had.  
The second was the arm slung around his waist, and the warm body cuddling up to him.  
He blinked his eyes open with some effort, and noticed that said body belonged to Anders.  
Not exactly unhappy with this development, but definitely confused as to how they had gotten here, he contemplated his next steps. Should he try to sneak out? Whose room was this anyway? Or should he stay? Would Anders be pleased with the that? Sure, they had flirted a little before, but Anders flirted with just about anyone, so that didn't necessarily mean anything, even if Nathaniel wanted it to.  
Before he could make a decision, Anders stirred next to him, blearily looking at him for a second, then seeming to recognise him.  
"Morning!", he greeted, then frowned. "Not that I'm complaining about the situation in general, but how exactly did we get here?"  
Nathaniel shrugged, or attempted to with Anders still wrapped around him, noticing with delight that he hadn't moved away.  
"Oghren's special brew, I suppose."  
"Ah yes, of course. Did we...?" Anders trailed off, and Nathaniel realised that he wasn't feeling particularly sore, just hung over, and looking down, he noted that they were tangled in the sheets, but definitely still wearing their smallclothes.  
"I think we might have wanted to, but were too out of it for much to happen", he concluded, and Anders hummed in agreement.  
"Makes sense. Oghren's brew kills just about anything."  
Nathaniel laughed, then winced, being reminded of his headache.  
Frowning in concern, Anders reached out, then stopped with his hand now hovering over Nathaniel's head. "May I?"  
"Uh, sure." He wasn't exactly certain what he was agreeing to, but at the moment he couldn't really imagine anything worse than this headache, and besides, he had come to trust Anders.  
The mage softly placed his fingers on Nathaniel’s temple and he could feel the magic seeping in, doing it’s, well _magic_, and the headache lifted.  
He nearly moaned in pleasure, but stopped himself just in time, and merely smiled at Anders.  
“I could kiss you for that, but I’m sure my breath stinks worse than Oghren’s brew tasted”, he remarked, and then it registered what he just said.  
Maker, just because Anders was being nice about waking up with him didn’t mean that he actually wanted him, just because they had drunkenly stumbled into bed together didn’t mean that he wanted to kiss him sober, just because…  
Before he could overthink too much, he heard Anders chuckle.  
“I’m sure I don’t smell much better. So maybe we should save that for later.”

_Later_ turned out to be that evening, when Nathaniel found Anders in his usual spot on the battlements. He had learned that the mage liked to watch the sun set and look out at the open fields, something that had been denied for him during his time in the circle.  
During the past months, they had learned a lot about each other, starting with trivial things and then slowly earning each others trust and sharing the heavier topics aswell, and Nathaniel was proud to call the mage a friend now.  
He joined him leaning against the wall, brushing their arms together, and Anders smiled at him briefly, then looked back at the sunset.  
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, then Anders cleared his throat.  
“So, about this morning...”  
And oh no. Would this be a rejection? A polite explanation why they wouldn’t work? Or a brush off along the lines of _it was just the alcohol_?  
Nathaniel steeled himself for those possibilities, but when Anders continued, he was left surprised.  
“I liked waking up with you. I would very much like to do that again. Maybe regularly, even.” He paused, looking at Nathaniel, and the shyness on his face was not something he had ever seen before. He had come to associate the mage with unwavering confidence, seeing him so nervous now just made him like him even more, and he smiled.  
“I’d like that. And I think I promised a kiss?”  
At that, Anders grinned, his confidence returning. “That you did.”  
Leaning in, he placed a hand on his hips, and when their lips met, softly, slowly, sweetly, Nathaniel thought that the world looked little less bleak with moments like this on the horizon.


End file.
